To our fabulous picketers

To our fabulous picketers;

We are writing to express our sincere thanks to all of you who have been out on the lines in the past week. We cannot tell you how proud we are of all of you, or how much of an impact you’ve had on our McMaster community.

As you’ve heard, the vote tonight was 58% in favour of ratifying this contract. Do not, in any way, regard this as a defeat! The changes we’ve wrought over recent days can’t be underestimated. The solidarity we’ve built, the community we’ve changed, the apathy we’ve broken through, and the issues we’ve raised have forever changed McMaster. Never would we have thought that this was possible three years ago – or even one year ago!

Your support of each other in our struggle to fight for quality education, for access to jobs, and to defend our wages and benefits against erosion has been exhilarating. More than that, your support of each other is inspiring.

We truly believe that there is far more positive to take away from this experience than there is negative. For one, we KNOW the University administration noticed us! The Union is truly stronger than ever, and we cannot be dismissed. We have a voice that is speaking for not only our own members, but for all of the members of the McMaster community in a way that has been truly absent. This voice is not absent any longer, and we’re looking forward to being louder and stronger than ever in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

The years of this contract are going to be years of significant change at Mac. We’ve got a new President arriving, SEIU and CAW (who you may have seen on our lines!) will be negotiating collective agreements, as will our own Sessional Faculty. The post-secondary sector is facing challenges in access and funding. CUPE 3906 has in the last months and weeks established itself as a leader – thanks to you! – and we can continue to build on that strength.

Thank you, we love you, and we’ll see you at a party in the VERY near future!